CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Off to its best start since 2014, No. 2 Virginia (5-0, 1-0 ACC) travels to No. 7/11 North Carolina (5-1, 0-0 ACC) for its first ACC road contest of 2022. Opening faceoff is set for 8 p.m. on ACC Network. Thursday’s primetime matchup features two of the best attackmen in the nation in UNC’s Chris Gray (6.83 ppg) and UVA’s Connor Shellenberger (6.60 ppg), who are second and third in the nation, respectively, in points this season.

Note: Thursday’s lacrosse game from Chapel Hill is set to broadcast on WINA (1070 AM/98.9 FM) unless there is a conflict with Virginia men’s basketball at the ACC Tournament.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

3.  Virginia is seeking to become just the third NCAA men’s lacrosse program to win three consecutive national titles in 2022, which would put itself in a category with Princeton (1996-98) and Johns Hopkins (1978-80).

5.  This year’s 5-0 start is UVA’s best under head coach Lars Tiffany and best since 2014. The Cavaliers opened the 2014 season by winning its first six games.

31.  Graduate attackman Matt Moore needs just 31 points to become the all-time point leader in program history. Moore currently has 239 points (125 goal & 114 assists). Steele Stanwick currently holds the program record with 269 points.

LAST TIME OUT

  • Virginia improved to 5-0 on the season after defeating then-No. 14/15 Johns Hopkins, 19-8, at Klöckner Stadium.
  • The win tied for UVA’s largest margin of victory in series history. UVA also defeated the Blue Jays 19-8 in 2009 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
  • With the win, the Cavaliers retained possession of the Doyle Smith Cup, which began in 2006.
  • UVA held Hopkins scoreless for the first 21:48 of game time and jumped out to a 6-0 lead and won the game’s first eight faceoffs.
  • Payton Cormier (6 goals), Connor Shellenberger (3 goals, 5 assists), Petey LaSalla (1 goal, 9-10 FO) and Cole Kastner (1 goal, 5 CTs) shined in the win for the Cavaliers.

THE SERIES VS. NORTH CAROLINA

  • Thursday’s contest marks the 88th all-time meeting between the Cavaliers and North Carolina.
  • Virginia leads the all-time series over the Tar Heels, 55-32.
  • The Cavaliers’ 55 wins over UNC are the most by UVA over any other program all-time.
  • Virginia has won five of the last six meetings, including the last three contests in Chapel Hill.
  • The two teams squared off three times last season with Virginia winning 2-of-3.
  • In the most recent matchup – last year’s NCAA semifinals – the Cavaliers knocked off top-seeded UNC, 12-11, on May 29, 2021 at Rentschler Field.
  • Connor Shellenberger (2 goals, 4 assists), Grayson Sallade (8 GBs, 2 CTs) and Alex Rode (15 saves) led the charge for Virginia in its NCAA semifinal victory over the Tar Heels.

SEASON OVERVIEW

  • The 2022 season marks the 93rd season for the Virginia men’s lacrosse program, which boasts an all-time record of 679-376-1.
  • Virginia is seeking its third consecutive national championship, having won titles in 2019 and 2021. No national championship was held in 2020 after the NCAA announced on March 12, 2020 that it had canceled all remaining winter and spring championships due to the onset of COVID-19.
  • The Cavaliers are also seeking to become just the third program in NCAA in Division-I men’s lacrosse history to capture three consecutive NCAA titles. Only Princeton (1996-98) and Johns Hopkins (1978-80) have won three straight NCAA championships. Syracuse won NCAA titles from 1988-90, but the 1990 championship was later vacated by the NCAA.

VIRGINIA’S BEST START SINCE 2014

  • With an overall record of 5-0, Virginia is off to its best start under head coach Lars Tiffany.
  • The last time UVA went 5-0 was in 2014 when former head coach Dom Starsia and the Cavaliers opened the season at 6-0.
  • Virginia is one of just seven unbeaten teams in the nation, including the only unbeaten ACC team, entering Thursday’s game in Chapel Hill.

CAVALIERS SEEKING FIRST THURSDAY WIN SINCE 2014

  • Virginia is seeking its first win on a Thursday since the Cavaliers edged Loyola (Md.) in its 2014 season opener, a 14-13 overtime thriller.
  • Since then, Cavaliers lost both of its Thursday matchups, both of which were in 2021 and at Klöckner Stadium, when UVA fell to UNC (13-16) and Duke (12-13 OT) last season.

PAYTON CORMIER’S SECOND SIX-GOAL PERFORMANCE

  • For the second time of his career, Payton Cormier posted a career-high six goals in UVA’s 19-8 win over Johns Hopkins (March 5).
  • Cormier, who also scored six goals against Towson in 2021, is the first Cavalier to record six goals in multiple games since All-American Mark Cockerton did so three times in 2013.
  • Both Cormier and Cockerton are from Ontario, Canada.

THREE CAVALIERS EARN WEEKLY HONORS

  • For their performance against Johns Hopkins, Payton Cormier (6 goals) and Cole Kastner (1 goal, 5 CTs) were named the ACC’s Co-Offensive Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, the ACC announced March 8.
  • Connor Shellenberger (3 goals, 5 assists) set a career high with eight points against JHU and was named to USILA’s Team of the Week.

CONNOR SHELLENBERGER, THE NATION’S LEADER IN ASSISTS

  • Connor Shellenberger currently leads the nation in assists (4.40/game).
  • Shellenberger has posted at least three assists in all five games this season and has tallied five assists – his career high – in three games so far this season.
  • Shellenberger has also posted at least five points in his last nine games, dating back to the Cavaliers’ NCAA Tournament first round matchup against Bryant (May 16, 2021).
  • Shellenberger has dished out at least one assist in 22 of his 23 career games.

HOOS IN THE NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS

  • Virginia is currently leading the nation in ground balls (42.60/gm) and man-down defense (.846), second in assists (10.60/gm), opponent clear percentage (.717), points (28.40/gm), scoring margin (8.00) and scoring offense (17.80), fifth in shot percentage (.362), seventh in faceoff winning percentage (.599), ninth in turnovers (14.40/gm) and 10th in caused turnovers (10.60/gm).
  • In addition to Shellenberger leading the country in assists, Cole Kastner is second in caused turnovers (3.80/gm), Petey LaSalla is third in faceoff winning percentage (.667), Shellenberger is third in points (6.60/gm), Payton Cormier is seventh in goals (3.60/gm), and Matthew Nunes is 10th in goals against (9.10/gm) and 11th in save percentage (.574).

VIRGINIA IS A GROUND BALL MACHINE

  • Virginia currently leads the nation in ground balls per game (42.60).
  • In 2021, Virginia led the nation with 41.94 ground balls per game.
  • Entering 2022, UVA has led the nation in ground balls eight of the last 13 years, including the last five seasons under Lars Tiffany.
  • UVA is the only school in the nation to finish in the top-5 nationally in ground balls per game 12 times over the last 13 seasons.
  • The only school in 2016 to finish with more ground balls per game was UVA head coach Lars Tiffany’s 2016 Brown team.
  • Lars-Tiffany-coached teams have led the nation in ground balls in seven straight seasons, including the 2015 and 2016 seasons at Brown.

ON THE HORIZON

  • Virginia takes on Maryland at Audi Field (Washington D.C.) in a rematch of the 2021 national championship game.
  • Opening faceoff from the nation’s capital is set for 3 p.m. on Big Ten Network.